NEWTON - On a brisk, bright morning, sunlight streaming through Charles J. Connick’s stained glass image of a tiger dances like tongues of fire on a worn rug in the gallery of Historic Newton.

For 35 years, the longtime Newton resident created exquisite stained glass windows that illuminated biblical tales and the poetry of Emily Dickinson, legends of King Arthur and an allegory of a New England Yankee who shot a mermaid.

His life and artistry comes brilliantly alive in "Charles J. Connick: Adventurer in Light and Color,’’ a dazzling exhibition that features five gorgeous windows and freestanding medallions, drawings and designs, personal artifacts and photographs at Historic Newton’s Jackson Homestead and Museum at 527 Washington St.

If the Titan Hyperion brought light to the ancient world of Greek mythology, Connick used stained glass as a medium to paint with light in churches, libraries and public buildings in 47 U.S. states and abroad.

Organized by Melissa Westlake, curator of education at Historic Newton, and Marilyn Justice, president of the Charles J. Connick Stained Glass Foundation, this show captures the passion of an artist who was described at his death by the New York Times as "the world’s greatest artisan on stained glass windows.’’

His work can be seen in more than 20 Newton sites, in Framingham in chapels, at the state university, women's prison and several churches, and throughout Boston. Opened in 1913 and run like a Renaissance guild, Connick's studio on Harcourt Street in Boston completed more than 2,000 commissions during his lifetime. "Everyone in the studio could do every job,’’ said Justice, "but Connick always had the final word.’’

Whether viewing the stunning "Canticle of the Sun’’ for the first or 50th time, visitors might better understand what Connick meant when he said, "I want to make beautiful interiors for both churches and souls … I want...[all people] to hear my windows singing."’

As co-founder of the Connick Foundation, Justice has devoted decades to promoting the legacy of a singular artist whose stained glass scenes reveal his craftsmanship, knowledge of his medium and a love of color.

"For me, the main thing is the spirit of Connick's art,'' she said, pointing to a window portraying Arthurian knight Sir Bors rescuing a maiden.

Justice said after 1910 Connick only used transparent and fully translucent glass in his windows like the medieval artists he admired. He only used paint for shading and line work but not to add color.

"Connick responded to color in nature,'' said Justice. "The passage of light through his glass is very fluid."

When Connick was designing windows for Mass. General Hospital and learned nearby buildings might block the sunlight, Justice recalled he said, "I think we’ll have to outwit the shadows.’’

Page 2 of 3 - "Sensitive windows are the color of the weather. Their moods take on the mood of Brother Sun, although they seem almost magically to retain yesterday's sunlight on gloomy days,'' Connick wrote. "Windows are to be lived with. They never reveal their full range of beauty and power to casual visitors.''

Justice said Connick was born in rural Pennsylvania in 1875 but moved as a youngster to Pittsburgh with his family that struggled financially. A middling student but precocious artist, Connick had to quit high school to earn money for his family as an illustrator for the Pittsburgh Press.

A 19, he joined the Rudy Brothers shop as an apprentice and spent five years there learning to make stained glass windows. While working in Pittsburgh, New York and Boston over the next decade, Connick studied painting and drawing in night school and traveled to England and France to see first hand ancient and modern stained glass, including the windows of the Chartres Cathedral.

Westlake said exhibiting Connick's art and artifacts fits perfectly with Historic Newton's mission "to encourage inquiry about and exploration of the history of Newton within the context of the wider American story.'' Connick settled in Newton in 1920 and lived there until his death in 1945. In Newton, Connick's works can be found at the Newton Senior Center, Andover Newton Theological School, Newton-Wellesley Hospital and several churches.

"As a prominent citizen and prominent artist, a lot can be gleaned from his work about American stained glass art during the first half on the 20th century,'' she said.

Composed of the city of Newton and Newton Historical Society, the nonprofit Historic Newton oversees the Jackson Homestead, the Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds and the preservation of Newton's Historic Burying Grounds.

Since most of Connick's work remains in churches and buildings, the exhibit showcases artifacts that show how stained glass art was designed and made.

Visitors will see several "cartoons,'' the full-sized image that were traced to create the pattern for the final windows, some tools and an illustrated chart detailing the 12 steps from beginning to end. They'll also see several "exhibition'' panels made to show Connick's work to customers and "medallions,'' smaller works meant to displayed or hung like paintings.

In this show, Connick's medallions include a stunning image of poet William Blake's fierce "Tyger,'' coiled like orange flames within a green oval of jungle flora, and "St. Martin Dividing his Cloak," which uses dramatic contrasts of red, yellow and white to illustrate the legend of the knight's generosity to a beggar.

Made in 1940 for the Exhibition of Contemporary American Industrial Art,'' Connick's "New England Fantasy" shows the artist at his most imaginative using bold, bright images to represent the allegory of a New Englander who shot a mermaid.

Observing Connick's complex image of Sir Bors, Kantarobserved the knight’s white lance "striking through the darkness of blues and red’’ beneath a bright red sunset. "I think most viewers will respond to the drama that’s being portrayed,’’ she said.

Kantar recalled visiting Connick’s Boston studio sometime after his death and wandering into "a gigantic room with a huge ceiling full of beautiful stained glass panels and tables covered with different kinds of color glass.’’ "I remember it so well,’’ she said.

Connick’s studio has been closed for many years but the magic he created with glass can be viewed across the state and seen close up at Historic Newton.

Chris Bergeron is a Daily News staff writer. Contact him at cbergeron@wickedlocal.com or 508-626-4448. Follow us on Twitter @WickedLocalArts and on Facebook.